Trailing to two goals by Romelu Lukaku, they hauled themselves off the foot of the table through Jimmy Kebe, an Adam Le Fondre penalty, and Pavel Pogrebnyak’s third in as many games in the last eight minutes.

Delighted McDermott said: “That’s the real Reading that you saw towards the end.

“You come to this ground and it is never easy to get points.

“Another team could have crumbled when we were trailing, but that is the spirit we have got. Can that keep us up? We shall see but wherever we finish we have got that character in the dressing room and that is a real fillip.

“We have resilience and desire and are all pulling in the same direction. If you have that, then you have a chance.”

Albion boss Steve Clarke disputed the penalty from which Le Fondre equalised, saying: “While it is clumsy challenge it’s not you’d say it is a definite penalty. But we have to live with that.

“I’m disappointed for the players. For 81 minutes we were really good but unfortunately we are surveying the wreckage instead.”

QPR went back to the bottom despite holding Tottenham to a goalless draw at Loftus Road.